ELECTRIC CARS DOWN THE ROAD

The concept of electric cars is much hyped, that keeps running on various news channels every now and then. Since, we are heading on the path that will lead to the exhaustion of all the natural resources that Mother Nature has blessed us with; we are on a constant lookout for various energy substitutes.

Among other things, an electric car is a step forward in ameliorating the vulnerable state of the atmosphere, thanks to the carbon emission by the cars. The electric cars get their power from rechargeable batteries installed inside them. The batteries in the electric cars are more or less the same that are used in the normal cars but only, more powerful to support its efficient run without any other fuel consumption. An electric car is environment-friendly as well as pocket-friendly as electric power is cheaper than the natural non-renewable fuels.

Au contraire to the popular belief, electric cars is not a brand new concept of the millennial but it dates back to the early nineteenth century. The first known electric car was built in 1837 by alchemist Robert Davidson of Aberdeen. The car was powered by the galvanic cells (batteries). By 1839, British inventor Robert Anderson also invented a crude electrical carriage. And by the late nineteenth century, like an epidemic, battery-powered electric taxis became widely popular. But due to the lack of technological advancements and lack of power infrastructure, the acceptance of electric cars was widely hampered.

After years of being outside the limelight, the energy crisis of the 1970s and 1980s brought a renewed interest in electric cars. The history seemed to repeat itself, and once again the rise of electric cars could be seen in the market.

The Chevy Volt ,Nissan leaf and Honda Insight were all targeted towards the middle-class population and proved to be successful. With the fuel prices rising every now and then, the customers started being rational and chose to buy an electric car over a classic fuel imbibing SUVs.

But every coin has two sides; there were some downsides of the electric cars that proved lethal for its growing public image. The high cost of battery replacement and the toxic waste disposal, made people jettison their electric cars and switch over to the old fuel consuming contemporary cars.

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The new players stepped into the market which includes Tesla Motors of California, the Japanese automaker Mitsubishi and other giants like General Motors and Nissan. Tesla’s Roadster was a huge success; it could run 320 km on a charge and was also the first automobile to use lithium-ion- battery cells. Chevrolet Volt which could travel 64 km on battery power alone was a hybrid car that could run on both electricity and the gasoline.

Since then, the market for electric and hybrid cars have remained competitive. The luxury car makers like Audi and Aston Martin announced that they are going to make pricey, long-range, all-electric vehicles.